Attorney General William Barr has warned that “communities” that protest against police could lose the right to law-enforcment protection. Barr made the remarks at a Justice Department ceremony Tuesday to honor police officers, The Washington Post reports. “[Americans] have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves,” Barr said. The attorney general added that “if communities don’t give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.” Barr didn’t specify which “communities” he meant, but civil-rights activists condemned his remarks as a dog-whistle attack on minorities who have protested against police brutality. “Barr’s words are as revealing as they are disturbing—flagrantly dismissive of the rights of Americans of color, disrespectful to countless law enforcement officers who work hard to serve their communities,” Jeb Fain, a spokesperson for liberal super PAC American Bridge, told HuffPost.